These are challenging times, not only in the American Jewish community, but in the country at large. De facto, our economic pie has shrunk and things are always tense whenever there is less to go around.
One of responsibilities of a leader is to stay on task, especially when shepherding a community through difficult times.
The challenge to Jewish community leaders is to not hide from the bad news before us, even as we look to build a promising Jewish future.
A key to this is to speak to our community in open, honest, terms and to put the needs of the community ahead of our own fears and interests.
The Torah, which is so often a how-to leadership manual, has much to say on this.
The story of the 12 spies in Numbers 13 is about the role of faith in our lives; but when read closely it is also a textbook example of destructive communication on the part of community leaders.
The spies are charged by Moses to go through the land of Israel and bring back information about how many people there are, how well the cities are fortified and the land’s condition. But while they did this, the ten spies who report negatively go well beyond the task.
They add that it is a country “that devours its settlers.” They also add what is essentially a psychological remark, “all the people are of great size” and “we looked like grasshoppers to ourselves, and so we must have looked to them” (Numbers 13:32 and 33).
The Israelites are still traumatized from generations of slavery. Therefore, according to the 16th century commentator Obadiah ben Jacob Sforno, this description strikes fear into the people — which prompts us to ask, why would these spies, who were among the people’s leaders, want to undermine the conquest of the land?
Rabbis answer in many ways. Rabbi Morris Adler argues that the ten tribal leaders who feared invasion wanted to stick with what they knew and not risk losing the power they already had.
The second century scholar, Rabbi Simeon Ben Yochai, believed that they were narrow-minded and didn’t open themselves up to what they saw.
Leaders also have to be careful about how they steer challenging information through a community. Moses clearly has authority over the spies and only he knows about the mission they are setting out on.
Yet when they return, the ten spies undermine Moses’ authority by reporting directly to the whole community of Israel. Moses has no time to review the report and work with the tribal leaders on how it is to be presented.
Despite Caleb’s best efforts to counter their words, the Israelites break into panic and declare, “Let us go back to Egypt” (Numbers 14:4). Disaster then follows upon disaster.
Everyone over 20 is condemned to die in the wilderness. The leaders then try to undo their error by leading the people into battle, but to no avail. Without God’s support they are doomed to lose.
There is no shortage of negative things for American Jewish leaders to report on, whether it’s falling revenue, declining membership or just a general malaise.
But we are also an endlessly creative community and there is still great energy and interest in things Jewish among all our generations.
It is important that we speak honestly with each other about the challenges ahead, but we also need to forge ahead with new possibilities, however difficult.
The language we chose as leaders — and in an open society we are all leaders — is critical. The story of the spies teaches us that how we communicate can be the difference between forging ahead to the Promised Land or being condemned to being lost in the wilderness.
Rabbi E. Daniel Danson is spiritual leader of Mount Sinai Congregation in Wausau.
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